Inevitable Agonies or Divine Persuasion?
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Some people!
“Behold, some people brought to Jesus a paralytic…And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man…” –Matthew 9:2, (TPT).
Even if I weren’t a paralytic, I’d want some people like this on my side. These carefully-selected people will build me up and help carry me to where I need to go, to the answers I’m searching for, and to the solutions I lack. In fact, I need these types in my inner circle, those who think a certain way because I want their influence in my life.
What’s your list of qualifications for some people in your own life?
Here’s my main one: “Jesus saw their faith. “
This particular word “faith” in the Greek is the type of faith that only comes from God—not man. It’s a gift, the divine persuasion of God at work in us that cannot be drummed up by human effort.
Jesus recognized this faith in some people and knew it was His Father who sent them, so He acted on it. “…the Son can do nothing by Himself. He does what He sees the Father doing…” John 5:19 NLT.
My influencers must possess this kind of faith, the kind the Lord Jesus recognizes. When I feel like my whole life is falling apart, they’ll remind me that this is not now my story ends and tomorrow will be better. If I say something mean or out of character, they’ll remind me who I am, a royal daughter of the King and that I need to repent. And when the stuff of earth throws me off course, in faith they’ll remind me of my God-calling and point me back to Him for a system reboot.
But there’s another type of people that I will not allow into my inner circle.
This story about the paralytic included faithless critics, and Jesus didn’t actually have to say anything since they weren’t verbalizing their thoughts. While walking on earth, Jesus was not a mindreader—but His Father is, and the Holy Spirit whispered in the Son’s ear what the Father knew about this other type of people.
Jesus did not judge the motives of these men’s hearts, but He did, out of faith, speak forth what the Spirit of God prompted Him to say.
Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “…Take courage, your sins are forgiven.”
“And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves (thought to themselves), This man blasphemes.”
“But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you harbor evil in your hearts?”
Back to the concordance:
Harbor: meditate on, ponder
Evil: ponéros: hurtful, malicious, evil in effect or influence; pain-ridden, emphasizing the inevitable agonies (misery) that always go with evil.
So here’s my interpretation of Jesus’s spontaneous teaching: “Why are you even meditating on the inevitable misery that always sides with evil? Why do you constantly ponder on the worst case scenario? Where is your faith in the God of grace and miracles, who gave mankind dominion over the earth?”
I can’t afford to hang out with people who make a habit of faith-less thinking. A lack of faith in God’s divine ability hinders all of us from living the abundant life. Why put emphasis on the inevitable agonies associated with an evil world? I’ll certainly love them—because Jesus loved me first. But they just won’t be my people. Even Jesus had the 12 disciples, and from among them, 3 who knew Him most intimately.
Who are currently your people?
What do their speech & actions reveal concerning the thoughts they might harbor?
Are you one of some people in another person’s life? Do the thoughts you meditate on mark you as a people possessing the faith Jesus would recognize?
Father in Heaven, increase my faith to the point even the angels will recognize its origin. Show me how to be that faith-filled believer in another person’s life. Let all that I do and say come from Your divine persuasion, in Jesus’s name I pray.”
Sowing seeds of bravery to be “some people”
